City centre businesses will be given a helping hand to save £thousands on their utility bills if Chester’s proposed Business Improvement District (BID) gets the green light this summer.

CH1ChesterBIDCompany – the team behind the BID proposal – has teamed up with a utility management company and will be able to offer significant cost savings to more than 500 BID area businesses should they vote in favour of a BID this June.

This collaboration will give BID businesses free access to a dedicated utility management team, who would secure cheaper rates on bills such as water, energy and telecoms and handle the time-consuming switching process.

Paul Daniels, CH1ChesterBID Chairman, said: “We’re very pleased to be able to offer these savings to BID members and we believe it is a significant benefit we can offer to our BID members, saving them both time and money with their utility bills.”

Throughout June, city centre businesses will be voting on whether or not to accept the CH1ChesterBID proposals, with the result announced in early July. If successful, up to £2.5m could be raised over the five-year term through a BID levy that would see each business in the BID area with a rateable value of more than £18,000 contribute a fee equal to 1% of its rateable value each year. For many businesses, this would be the equivalent of just 50p per day.

Paul added: “Many businesses simply don’t find the time to compare the best deals and can end up overpaying on their gas, electric, broadband and many other utilities. This service would take away all of the hassle and give BID members more time to focus on running their business.

“We’re confident that the savings individual BID members will make using the utility management service – in addition to the increased footfall and turnover the BID would deliver – will provide a tangible return on the investment they’ve made through the 1% BID levy. But we simply have to get the ‘Yes’ vote we need in June to make benefits like these a reality.”